Commodity rental apparatus, commodity rental system, and commodity rental method

ABSTRACT

A commodity rental apparatus includes an input unit, a containing unit, and a return unit. The input unit selects a predetermined commodity and inputs commodity rental information. The containing unit has a commodity containing column having a data carrier, reads an identification number of a commodity selected by a commodity number input by a user via an antenna arranged at the column, and specifies a commodity. Furthermore, the specified commodity is carried from the containing column to the commodity pick-up unit, so that the user can picks it up. The return unit reads rental information recorded on the data carrier of the commodity returned through a return hole via an antenna arranged in the vicinity of the return hole, accepts the commodity, and contains it in a stocker to which it is conveyed by a predetermined convey mechanism.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a commodity rental apparatus with easymanagement and high usability, commodity rental system and commodityrental method.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, there have become widespread automatic rentalapparatuses or automatic vending machines for storage media such as VCT(Video Cassette Tape), CD (Compact Disk), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk)and like that record images or music information thereon. At the storewhere such automatic rental apparatus is installed (for example,unmanned video rental store), there is no need to station salespersonswho provide service for selling or renting commodities. Accordingly,this makes it possible to save personnel costs and fix business hoursarbitrarily (around-the-clock service is possible), thereby increasingmerits in maintenance and management.

However, from viewpoint of users, this provides a restriction in use,resulting in a poor usability as compared with the general store such asa video rental store. For example, at the time of using the automaticrental apparatus, since a membership card, which is issued for eachautomatic rental apparatus, is used even at the same chain store, themembership card corresponding to each automatic rental apparatus must beused to perform rental and return at the time of using multipleautomatic rental apparatuses, so that the procedure is complicated.

For this reason, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 10-49734discloses an automatic rental apparatus in which an IC card is used as auser (membership) card. According to this automatic rental apparatus,since all information on the rental and return of the commodity isrecorded on one IC card, even a different automatic rental apparatus isavailable using one IC card.

However, even in this case, since the rental commodity is managed byonly the automatic rental apparatus that stores the commodity, the usermust return the rent commodity to the automatic rental apparatus thatprovided rental service. For example, regarding the commodity, which theuser rent by an automatic rental apparatus at a location where he/shewent out, he/she cannot return it to an automatic rental apparatuslocated close to his/her house.

Moreover, stock information and rental information on the commodities inthe automatic rental apparatus are stored in only the relevant automaticrental apparatus. Accordingly, for instance, in order to replenishcommodities, the salesperson must go to the place where each automaticrental apparatus is installed and check individual stock information andthe like, so that efficiency is poor. Moreover, when there is no stockof a desired commodity in the specific automatic rental apparatus, theuser cannot grasp the stock of the desired commodity in the otherautomatic rental apparatus, so that he/she cannot rent the desiredcommodity even if he/she goes to a place where another automatic rentalapparatus is installed, resulting in poor usability.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made with consideration given to theaforementioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention isto provide a commodity rental apparatus with easy management and highusability and commodity rental system.

A commodity rental apparatus of the present invention comprises an inputunit that selects a commodity to input rental information for rentingthe selected commodity, a containing unit that contains a commodity witha record tag on which identification information for identifying thecommodity is recorded in advance to deliver the commodity selected bythe input unit after executing reading/writing of predeterminedinformation onto the record tag, a return unit that accepts a commodityto be returned, and reads rental information recorded on the record tagof the commodity to generate return information, and

-   -   a control unit that is connected to the input unit to control        the containing unit and the return unit, wherein the control        unit reads identification information recorded on the record tag        based on rental information sent from the input unit, identifies        the commodity to be delivered from the containing unit, records        rental information on the record tag of the commodity, and        records return information sent from the return unit on the        record tag of the commodity when the commodity is accepted by        the return unit.

According to this configuration, when rental information is recorded onthe record tag of the commodity to rent the commodity and the return ofthe commodity is accepted, return information is generated based onrental information recorded on the record tag of the commodity, and thereturn information is recorded on the record tag of the commodity. Thisenables the user to surely return the commodity even if any commodityrental apparatus is used.

Moreover, a commodity rental apparatus of the present inventioncomprises input means for selecting a predetermined commodity to inputrental information for renting the selected commodity, containing means,which includes a column containing a commodity with a record tag onwhich identification information for identifying the commodity isrecorded in advance and a first reader/writer section that is wirelesslycommunicable with the record tag, for identifying the commodity selectedby the input section based on identification information recorded on therecord tag to deliver the commodity from the column after writing rentalinformation of the commodity sent from the input means, return means,which includes a return hole through which a commodity to be returned isaccepted, a stocker that contains the commodity, and a secondreader/writer section that is wirelessly communicable with the recordtag of the commodity, for reading rental information recorded on therecord tag of the commodity to generate return information, andinformation management means, which is connected to the input means andthe return means, for recording rental information sent from the inputmeans to update the recorded rental information based on returninformation sent from the return means.

A commodity rental system of the present invention comprises a commodityrental apparatus that rents a commodity, and a management server that isconnected to the commodity rental apparatus via a network, wherein thecommodity rental apparatus comprises return means, which includes areturn hole through which a commodity to be returned is accepted, astocker that contains the commodity, and a second reader/writer sectionthat is wirelessly communicable with the record tag of the commodity,for reading rental information recorded on the record tag of thecommodity to generate return information, and containing means, whichincludes a column containing a commodity with a record tag on whichidentification information for identifying the commodity is recorded inadvance and a first reader/writer section that is wirelesslycommunicable with the record tag, for identifying the commodity selectedby the input section based on identification information recorded on therecord tag to deliver the commodity from the column after writing rentalinformation of the commodity sent from the input means, the commodityrental apparatus transmits identification information and rentalinformation of the commodity to the management server when the commodityis delivered by the containing means, the management server storesrental information sent from the commodity rental apparatus to beassociated with identification information, the commodity rentalapparatus sends the management server sends the management server arequest for rental information corresponding to the identificationinformation of a commodity when the return means accepts the commodity,generates return information by the return means based on rentalinformation sent from the management server in response to the request,and transmits the return information to the management server, and themanagement server updates rental information based on return informationsent from the commodity rental apparatus.

A commodity rental method of the present invention comprises the inputstep of selecting a kind of a predetermined commodity with a record tagon which identification information for identifying the commodity isrecorded in advance to input rental information for renting thecommodity corresponding to the selected kind, the rental step of readingidentification information recorded on the record tag to select acommodity corresponding to the kind of the commodity selected in theinput step and record rental information of the commodity input in theinput step on the record tag of the selected commodity to deliver; therental information storage step of storing identification informationand rental information of the commodity, the return step of accepting acommodity to be returned to read identification information of thecommodity, the return information generation step of reading rentalinformation corresponding to identification information of the commodityread and returned in the return step to generate return informationbased on the rental information; and the update step of updating rentalinformation stored in the rental information storage step based on thereturn information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a commodityrental system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of a commodity rental system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an outline structure of acontaining unit of a commodity rental system according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an example of rental informationstored by a management server according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a commodity rental procedure using acommodity rental system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 shows an example of an initial screen of a commodity rentalapparatus of a commodity rental system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 shows an example of a rental information input screen of acommodity rental apparatus of a commodity rental system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a commodity return procedure using acommodity rental system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 shows an example of a return confirmation screen of a commodityrental system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 shows an example of a rental application screen of a commodityrental system according to a modification of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows an example of a rental confirmation screen of a commodityrental system according to a modification of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a commodity rental apparatus according to amodification of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view illustrating an internal structure of acommodity containing unit of a commodity rental apparatus according to amodification of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating the outline and internalstructures of a return unit of a commodity rental apparatus according toa modification of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 shows another structural example of a containing unit of acommodity rental apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A commodity rental system and the like according to an embodiment of thepresent invention will be explained with reference to the attacheddrawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration view of a commodity rental systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A commodity rentalsystem 1 includes a commodity rental apparatus 100 provided in, forexample, a convenience store, a station, a hospital, and a managementserver 200 connected to the commodity rental apparatus via a network 2.A record tag, which records information for identifying each commodityand controlling it, is added to each commodity used in this system. Forexample, the record tag may be a read only record tag such as a barcodeor one that can read and write information wirelessly such as an IC chipor ID tag. In this embodiment, the IC chip is used and information foridentifying a commodity such as a commodity name, an identificationnumber, etc. is recorded thereon in advance. Moreover, a membership cardfor identifying a user is used, and the membership card is an IC card towhich an IC chip for recording membership information, using history foreach member, and the like is added.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating one example of an outline of thecommodity rental apparatus 100. The commodity rental apparatus 100includes a communications unit 101, an input unit 102, a control unit103, a storage unit 104, a card reading/writing unit 105, a display unit106, a containing unit 110, a return unit 120, a card issuing unit 130,and a settlement unit 140.

The communications unit 101 includes a modulation unit, a demodulationunit, an interface unit and the like. Membership information, rentalinformation and the like sent from the control unit 103 are modulatedand transmitted to the management server 200 via the network 2.Moreover, the communications unit 101 receives rental information orcommodity advertisement information sent from the management server 200,performs demodulation (including decoding processing, error correctionprocessing, and the like) and transmits it to the control unit 103.

The input unit 102 is a touch panel having a display function for whicha user selects predetermined processing (for example, rental processing)from a processing menu to input a predetermined instruction or data. Inresponse to the user's selection, the input unit 102 transmits a signal,which requests the selected processing, to the control unit 103. Inresponse to this, an execution screen for inputting data necessary toexecute the predetermined processing sent from the control unit 103, isdisplayed. In response to the user's operation from the executionscreen, a signal, which indicates the input instruction or data, istransmitted to the control unit 103.

The control unit 103 includes a CPU (Control Processing Unit), a ROM(Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like. Thecontrol unit 103 stores a program for functioning as a commodity rentalapparatus in the ROM and reads the program to execute. Moreover, thecontrol unit 103 includes a predetermined oscillator and has a timefunction based on the oscillator.

The control unit 103 transmits a control signal that causes each of thecard reading/writing unit 105, containing unit 110, return unit 120,card issuing unit 130 and settlement unit 140 to execute a predeterminedprocessing operation.

The control unit 103 receives rental information input from the inputunit 103 and records this rental information on the membership cardusing the card reading/writing unit 105. Moreover, the control unit 103transmits this rental information to the management server 200. Here,rental information includes, for example, a commodity identificationnumber, a commodity name, a membership number, a rental period (rentaldate, scheduled return date) and the like.

In return processing to be described later, the control unit 103 readsan identification number recorded on the membership card using the cardreading/writing unit 105 in the rental processing and requests rentalinformation, which corresponds to the identification number, of themanagement server 200. In response to the request, it is determinedwhether rental information sent from the management server 200 and readrental information match.

The control unit 103 issues/updates the membership card by the cardissuing unit 130 and transmits accepted membership information (recordedon the membership card) to the management server 200 and registers it.Here, membership information includes, for example, a membership number,a password, a name, a day of birth, an address, a telephone number, andthe like.

The control unit 103 detects a title of the commodity contained in thecontaining unit 110 and the quantity (the number of stocks), and storesit as stock management information. Moreover, when it is detected thatthe stock is less than a predetermined value, a warning that the rentalis impossible is displayed onto the containing unit 110. Furthermore,the control unit 103 appropriately transmits this stock managementinformation to the management server 200 together with an apparatusnumber that identifies the commodity rental apparatus.

The control unit 103 requests advertisement information on a specificcommodity (commodity currently contained in the containing unit 110) ofthe management server 200 with a predetermined timing. In response tothis request, advertisement information sent from the management server200 is received and stored in the storage unit 104. This advertisementinformation is sequentially read and output from the display unit 106.

The storage unit 104 is a storage device including a hard disk. Thestorage unit 104 stores settlement information (including, for example,payment information at a rental time and adjustment information at areturn time) in addition to the aforementioned stock managementinformation and commodity advertisement information.

The card reading/writing unit 105 includes an IC reader/writer forreading data recorded on the membership card and further recordingpredetermined data on the membership card. The card reading/writing unit105 records membership information, rental information, using historyinformation (including the number of accumulative points according tothe use) or reads these information items recorded thereon.

The display unit 106 is a display device including an LCD (LiquidCrystalline Display) and the like. The display unit 106 outputscommodity advertisement information received from the control unit 106.

The containing unit 110 includes selection buttons 117 for selectingeach commodity and 42 pockets 118 arranged to correspond to theseselection buttons and contain sample commodities as illustrated in FIG.2, which is the front view of the commodity rental apparatus 100. Inresponse to the user's operation, the selection button 117 generates asignal indicating that a predetermined commodity and transmits it to thecontrol unit 103 (FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 shows an internal structure of the containing unit 110. 42 columnmain bodies 111 are used in combination with bottom plates 112respectively as illustrated in FIG. 3. The column man body 111 hasguides 113, which form divisions for containing the respectivecommodities in their interior, and slots 114 from which the commoditiescontained in the divisions are dropped into a receiving tray,respectively. Moreover, an antenna 115 for performing communicationswith the IC chip of the contained commodity is provided on the innerwall. The column main body 111 is driven by a movable arm 116 that isdriven by a motor, and slides on the bottom plate 112 fixed to a frontpanel of the commodity rental apparatus 100 by a fixing hook.

The commodities are sequentially dropped into the receiving tray fromthe slot 114 with the slide of the column main body 114 and moved to acommodity pick-up hole 151 through a transfer shoot (not shown)connected to the receiving tray.

The containing unit 110 further includes a pocket 118 that contains acommodity sample and a reader 119 for reading information recorded onthe record tag of the commodity via the antenna 115.

When the user selects rental processing from a menu displayed on theinput unit 102 and operates the selection button 117 to input apredetermined rental information, the control unit 103 designates aspecific column (column that contains a commodity corresponding to thekind of commodity designated by the rental information) and transmits aninstruction (control signal), which sends a query radio wave to theantenna 115 of the column, to the reader 119. In response to the controlsignal, the reader 119 transmits the query radio wave to the commoditycontained in the designated column main body 111. One commodity(commodity placed at the rightmost in FIG. 3) is identified to read anidentification number of the record tag based on a response radio wave,which corresponds to the query radio wave from the record tag of eachcommodity.

The reader 119 produces the query radio wave to the record tag of thecommodity via the antenna 115 every predetermined time and receives theresponse radio wave from the record tag of each commodity. The reader119 demodulates the response radio wave and transmits it to the controlunit 103. In connection with each column main body 111, theaforementioned stock management information is obtained by the controlunit 103.

Here, the record tag of the commodity is a non-contact type andpreferably a passive type that is operated by obtaining power from thequery radio wave.

The return unit 120 includes a housing 121 made of transparent resin(for example, acrylic resin) and a return magazine (stocker) 122 asillustrated in FIG. 2. The return magazine 122 includes divisions thatcontain commodities (for example, 100 recording media) and slots (returnholes) 123 that correspond to the respective divisions to insert thecommodities at the front.

The housing 121 includes an antenna 124 for performing communicationswith the record tag of the commodity to be returned and a reader 125 forreading information recorded on the record tag of the commodity via theantenna 124.

When the user selects return processing from a menu displayed on theinput unit 102 and returns the commodity to the return magazine 122, thecontrol unit 103 transmits a control signal, which provides instructionsto perform a read operation, to the reader 125 in response to the input.In response to the control signal, the reader 125 reads anidentification number recorded on the record tag of the returnedcommodity, and transmits the identification number to the control unit103.

The card issuing unit 130 includes a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) camera131, a card issuing hole 132, and a scanner 133.

When the user captures a front static image using the CCD camera 131 anda predetermined certification document using the scanner 133, thecontrol unit 103 displays an input screen that requests an input ofmembership information on the input unit 102. In response to the user'sinput of membership information, the input membership information ischecked with individual information included in the certificationdocument read by the scanner 133 to determine whether these informationitems match. When it is determined that they match, the control unit 103displays an input screen for registering a password as an authenticationnumber of the user (membership card) on the input unit 102.

When the password is input by the user, the card issuing unit 130records predetermined membership information (membership number,password, name, day of birth, address, expiration date, and the like) onthe IC chip of the membership card, and imprints or prints themembership number, name, and expiration date on the membership card. Themembership card is sent from the card issuing hole 132.

The settlement unit 140 includes a bill insertion slot 141, a coininsertion slot 142, and a change output hole 143 on the front surface ofthe commodity rental apparatus 100 and a bill/coin identifying unit anda bill/coin containing unit in its interior as illustrated in FIG. 2.

When the user inserts a predetermined amount of money into the billinsertion slot 141 or coin insertion slot 142 according to an amount ofmoney displayed on the input unit 102, the control unit 103 identifiesthe inserted money using the bill/coin identifying unit to display theinserted amount of money on the input unit 102.

The management server 200 includes a communications unit 201, a controlunit 202, a rental database 203, and an advertisement database 204 asillustrated in FIG. 1.

The communications unit 201 includes a modulation unit, a demodulationunit, an interface unit and the like. The communications unit 201receives data items such as membership information, rental information,stock management information and the like that are sent from the controlunit 103 of the commodity rental apparatus 100, and demodulates them andtransmits them to the control unit 202.

Furthermore, in response to a request from the commodity rentalapparatus 100, the communications unit 201 receives data, which includesadvertisement information of the commodity searched from theadvertisement database 204, from the control unit 202, demodulates themand transmits them to the commodity rental apparatus 100.

The control unit 202 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM(Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like.

The control unit 202 stores membership information, rental information,and stock management information that are sent from the commodity rentalapparatus 100 in the rental database 203. Moreover, in response to therequest from the commodity rental apparatus 100, the control unit 202extracts advertisement information of a specific commodity from theadvertisement database 204 and transmits it to the commodity rentalapparatus 100.

The rental database 203 stores rental information for each commodity ina format as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The advertisement database 204 stores advertisement information such asa promotion image and the like for each commodity.

An explanation will be next given of a procedure for renting a commodityusing the commodity rental system in combination with the operation ofeach configuration component of this system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating steps of the commodity rentalprocedure. The user selects rental processing from an initial screen(FIG. 6) displayed on the input unit 102 (step S101). Next, themembership card is inserted into the card reading/writing unit 105 (stepS102). The card reading/writing unit 105 reads membership information ofthe membership card and transmits the membership information to thecontrol unit 103 (step S103).

The user inputs a password according to instructions displayed on theinput screen (step S104). The control unit 103 determines whether theinput password and a password included in the membership informationmatch (step S105). When these two passwords match, the control unit 103displays a message that instructs a next step of the rental processing.

The user decides a commodity to be rent with reference to a commoditysample of the pocket 118 of the containing unit 110 and operates thecorresponding selection button 117 (step S106). In response to thisoperation, the control unit 103 specifies one commodity placed at adeliverable position (right end in FIG. 3) and reads an identificationnumber of the commodity by the reader 119 via the antenna 115 arrangedat the column main body 111 where the designated commodity is contained(step S107).

The control unit 103 displays a rental information input screen (FIG. 7)for inputting rental information on the input unit 102. On the inputscreen, membership information read in the step S103 and theidentification number of the commodity read in the step S107 aredisplayed. When the user inputs a scheduled return date on the inputscreen (step S108), the control unit 108 requests a rental fee accordingto the rental period and adds it onto the input screen to display (stepS109).

When the user touches an “OK” button displayed under the screen of FIG.7 after checking the displayed contents, the control unit 103 writesrental information onto the membership card by the card reading/writingunit 105 (step S110).

The control unit 103 transmits this rental information to the managementserver 200. The management server 200 stores the rental information inthe rental database 203 and sets a rental flag to 1 (step S111).

When the user inserts a predetermined amount of money from the billinsertion slot 141 or coin insertion slot 142, the settlement unit 140executes settlement processing based on a rental fee displayed in stepS109. The control unit 103 detects that the predetermined amount ofmoney is input to the settlement unit 140 and transmits a control signalfor delivering the commodity to the containing unit 110 (step S112).Moreover, the control unit 103 stores settlement information including asettled amount of money and settlement time in the storage unit 104.

The containing unit 110 drives a movable arm 116 in accordance with thecontrol signal from the control unit 103 to slide the column main body111 and deliver the commodity from the slot 114 (step S113). Thedelivered commodity reaches a commodity pick-up hole 151 from thereceiving tray through the transfer shoot and is picked up by the user.

In step S105, when the control unit 103 determines that two passwords donot match, a message encouraging reentry is displayed on the rentalinformation input screen since the passwords do not match (step S114).After that, the processing goes back to the step S104 and the userinputs the password again.

An explanation will be next given of the step of returning the rentcommodity to the commodity rental apparatus with reference to FIG. 8.First of all, the user selects return processing from the initial screenof FIG. 6 displayed on the input unit 102 (step S201). Next, themembership card is inserted into the card reading/writing unit 105 (stepS202). The card reading/writing unit 105 reads rental information of themembership card and transmits it to the control unit 103 (step S203).

The user inserts the commodity into the vacant division of the returnmagazine 122 of the return unit 120 through the slot 123 (step S204). Inresponse to this operation, the control unit 103 reads an identificationnumber of the inserted commodity by the reader 119 via the antenna 124provided at the return magazine 122 (step S205).

The control unit 103 transmits a request signal, which requests returninformation corresponding to the identification number read in the stepS205, to the management server 200 (step S206). In response to thisrequest, the management server 200 searches the rental database 203 toextract the corresponding rental information and transmits it to thecommodity rental apparatus 100 (step S207).

The control unit 103 receives the rental information sent from themanagement server 200 in step S207 and determines whether the rentalinformation and rental information read from the member ship card instep 203 match (step S208). When these two rental information itemsmatch, the control unit 103 displays a return confirmation screen (FIG.9) on the input screen 102 (step S209). At this time, on the returnconfirmation screen, an actual return date obtained by a time functionof the control unit 103 is displayed.

On the other hand, when two rental information items do not match, amassage indicating this fact is displayed on the input unit 102 and thereturn processing ends.

Next, the control unit 103 determines whether the actual return date andthe scheduled return date match (step S210). When they match (thisincludes a case in which the actual return date is earlier than thescheduled return date), the control unit 103 displays a messageindicating that the return processing normally ends on the input unit102 and deletes the rental information of the membership card (stepS211).

On the other hand, when the actual return date is later than thescheduled return date, the control unit 103 requests a delay feeaccording to the delay period (difference in day between the actualreturn date and the scheduled return date) and displays a messageindicating that the rental period exceeds and the delay fee on the inputunit 102 (step S212). The control unit 103 detects that a predeterminedamount of money is input to the settlement unit 140 and deletes therental information of the membership card (step S213). Furthermore, thecontrol unit 103 stores settlement information including the settledamount of money and the settlement time in the storage unit 104. Inaddition, when no money is input, the delay fee as accounts receivableis recorded on the membership card.

After that, the control unit 103 transmits the actual return date to themanagement server 200 (step S214). The management server 200 stores thereturn date sent from the commodity rental apparatus in association withthe identification number and sets a rental flag corresponding theretoto 0 (step S215).

According to the present embodiment, since the management server 200 isconnected to the commodity rental apparatus 100 via the network 2 andsequentially stores rental information sent from the commodity rentalapparatus 100, the user may use any commodity rental apparatus whenhe/she returns the rent commodity.

(Modification 1)

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the commodity rental system1 performed authentication of the user by the membership card to rentthe commodity. Here, authentication and reservation may be performed bya mobile terminal that makes it possible to communicate with themanagement server 200 in place of the membership card.

In other words, the user gains access to a web page provided by themanagement server 200 from the mobile terminal, inputs an identificationnumber of his/her mobile terminal (telephone number or terminal numberand the like), name, and date of birth, and transmits them to themanagement server 200. In response to the user's input, the managementserver 200 generates a membership number, and stores the membershipnumber, the identification number, name, and date of birth as newmembership information in the rental database 203.

Next, the management server 200 transmits a rental application screenshown in FIG. 10 to the mobile terminal. The user displays the rentalapplication screen sent from the management server 200 on the mobileterminal, inputs necessary items such as a commodity title, a desiredrental date, a scheduled return date, and the like, and transmits themto the management server 200. The management server 200 generates rentalinformation and a reservation number based on information sent from themobile terminal.

The management server 200 creates a list (including an apparatus numberand an address) of the commodity rental apparatuses by which thecommodity title input by the user can be rent, with reference to thestock management information of the rental database 203. The managementserver 200 outputs these information items as a rental confirmationscreen shown in FIG. 11 to the mobile terminal. The user confirms therental information output from the mobile terminal and clicks an “OK”button. At this time, the user checks an available commodity rentalapparatus from the rental confirmation screen. In response to the user'soperation, the management server 200 stores the reservation number andthe rental information in the rental database 203.

The user uses the commodity rental apparatus 100 having confirmed stockof the desired commodity to display a reservation number input screen(not shown) from the initial screen of FIG. 6, and inputs thereservation number obtained in advance from the input unit 102.

In response to the input of the reservation number, the commodity rentalapparatus 100 requests rental information, which corresponds to thereservation number, of the management server 200. In response to thisrequest, the management server 200 searches the corresponding rentalinformation from the rental database 203 and transmits it to thecommodity rental apparatus 100.

The commodity rental apparatus 100 calculates a rental fee based on therental information sent from the management server 200 and displays therental information and the rental fee on the rental information inputscreen shown in FIG. 7.

When the user inserts a predetermined amount of money into the billinsertion slot 141 or coin insertion slot 142, the settlement unit 140performs settlement processing based on the displayed rental fee. Thecontrol unit 103 detects that the predetermined amount of money is inputto the settlement unit 140 and transmits a control signal for deliveringthe commodity to the containing unit 110. Moreover, the control unit 103stores settlement information including a settled amount of money andsettlement time in the storage unit 104.

The containing unit 110 drives the movable arm 116 in accordance withthe control signal from the control unit 103 to slide the column mainbody 111 and deliver the commodity from the slot 114. The deliveredcommodity reaches the commodity pick-up hole 151 from the receiving traythrough the transfer shoot and is picked up by the user.

In this way, even if the membership card is not used, it is possible toauthenticate the user by use of the user's terminal that makes itpossible to communicate with the management server 200. Furthermore,this is convenient since the user can reserve a desired commodity to berent from the mobile terminal. Moreover, the terminal to be used is notlimited to the mobile terminal if it is one that can communicate withthe management server 200 and identify the terminal and PC and the likemay be possible. In this case, a subscriber number of a provider towhich the user subscribes can be used as an identification number.

The aforementioned modification explained that the user reserved thecommodity from the mobile terminal. However, it is possible to settlethe rental fee of the reserved commodity. For example, the user mayselect a cash settlement (payment in cash by the commodity rentalapparatus) or credit settlement (settlement by a credit card and thelike or payment from a bank account by the mobile terminal).

(Modification 2)

In place of the commodity rental apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2, acommodity rental apparatus 300 illustrated in FIG. 12 can be used. Thecommodity rental apparatus 300 includes the same configurations as theapparatus 100 except for the point in which the card issuing unit andthe card processing are not provided. Accordingly, except for the pointin which the commodity rental apparatus 300 is used without using themembership card, both the procedure for using the commodity rentalapparatus explained in the embodiment of the present invention and theoperation of each configuration unit of the commodity rental apparatusare substantially the same.

However, the outline of the commodity rental apparatus 300 shown in FIG.12 is slightly different from the apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 2 and thestructure has the configuration units different from the apparatus 100.Therefore, as compared with the apparatus 100, the configuration unitsof the commodity rental apparatus 300 having the different structure andthe operations will be explained as follows.

In this modification, the containing unit 310 includes 30 commoditycontaining units. As illustrated in FIG. 12, each commodity containingunit has a commodity advertisement panel 311, a commodity pick-up unit312, and an LED display unit 313 on the front surface of the apparatus.The commodity advertisement panel 311 displays advertisement informationof the commodity contained in each containing column. The commoditypick-up unit 312 discharges a commodity selected by the user accordingto instructions from the control unit. Moreover, the LED display unit313 turns on when the presence or absence of the commodities containedin the containing column is detected by a reader to be described laterand there is no stock of commodities.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating an internal structure of one commoditycontaining unit of the containing unit 310. Each containing unitincludes a containing column 314, a shutter 315, a conveyor belt 316, afeed roller 317, an antenna 318, and a reader 319 in its interior.

When the user selects rental processing from a menu displayed on theinput unit 302 to input predetermined rental information including theselection of the commodity, the containing column 314 corresponding tothe commodity selected by the user mounts the commodity on the conveyorbelt 316 by a mounting mechanism (not shown). The conveyor belt 316 isdriven by the transfer roller to the mounted commodity to the feedroller 317. Here, the commodity is detected by a detection sensor (notshown) and the shutter is opened. Next, the feed roller transfers thecommodity to a predetermined position of the commodity pick-up unit 312.This enables the user to pick up the commodity from the commoditypick-up unit 312. At this time, when the shutter 315 opens for more thana predetermined time, detection is executed by a predetermined sensor,so that an alarm for preventing the commodity from being forgotten topick up operates to urge the user to use caution.

The antenna 318 is one that is used to perform communication with therecord tag of the commodity and is placed on an inner wall of thecontaining column 314. The reader 319 is placed at the inner side of theapparatus opposing to the containing column 314 of each commoditycontaining unit. The reader 319 produces a query radio wave to therecord tag of the commodity via the antenna 318 every predetermined timeand receives a response radio wave from the record tag of the commodityin the containing column 314. The reader 319 demodulates the responseradio wave and transmits it to the control unit. By the control unit,stock management information explained in the embodiment of the presentinvention is obtained. Moreover, when there is no stock of commodities,the LED display unit 313 on the front surface of the apparatus turns onas mentioned above according to instructions from the control unit.

A customer unit includes a return unit 320, an input unit 302, a humandetection sensor unit 305, and a settlement unit 340. When the usercomes close to the customer unit, the human detection sensor 305 detectsthe user, so that the input unit 302 is activated to display an initialmenu. An apparatus front view of the customer unit and an apparatus sideview, which illustrates an internal structure of the return unit 320,are shown by FIGS. 14(a) and 14(b), respectively.

The return unit 320 includes a shutter 321, an insertion detectionsensor 322, a feed roller 323, an antenna 324, a containing chambershutter 325, a containing chamber (stocker) 326, a containing lift 327,a containing lift timing belt 328, and a containing detection sensor329.

When the user selects return processing from the menu displayed on theinput unit 302, the shutter 321 opens to accept the return of thecommodity. After that, when the commodity is inserted up to apredetermined position, the insertion detection sensor 322 detects thecommodity and the feed roller 323 transfers the commodity up to apredetermined position. At this time, when the control unit readsinformation recorded on the record tag of the returned commodity via theantenna 324 and it matches return information, the containing chambershutter 325 opens and the commodity is conveyed by the feed roller 323until the containing detection sensor 329 detects. In addition, anidentification number included in the read information is transmitted tothe control unit via the antenna 324.

When the containing detection sensor 329 detects the returned commodity,the containing lift timing belt 328 is driven by a driving unit (notshown), so that the containing lift 327 rises up to a predeterminedheight (position). Next, the commodity is mounted on the containing lift327 by a mounting mechanism (not shown). When the commodity is mountedon the containing lift 327, the containing lift timing belt 328 isdriven again to move down the containing lift 327 to a predeterminedheight (position) according to the number of mounted commodities. Inthis modification, the containing chamber 326 has a space that cancontain 145 commodities and the containing lift 327 has a load carryingcapacity that can also load 145 commodities.

When information, which is read via the antenna 324 and recorded on therecord tag of the returned commodity, matches return information, thefeed roller 323 reversely rotates to transfer the commodity to thereturn hole in an opposite direction.

Referring to FIG. 12 again, the settlement unit 340 includes a printpaper issuing unit 341, a coin insertion slot 342, a coin return hole342, and a return lever 344 on the front surface of the apparatus. Theuser can appropriately print necessary screen information amonginformation displayed on the screen of the input unit 302 (touch panel)from the print paper issuing unit 341 at the time of rental processingand return processing.

In this modification, it is assumed that an ID number is provided to amembership in advance and that the ID number and a password are storedin the management server in association with each other together withpredetermined membership information. In the flowchart illustrating thecommodity rental procedure of FIG. 5, the user inputs his/her ID numberto the input unit 302 instead of inserting the membership card into thecard reading/writing unit. In response to this, the control unit of thecommodity rental apparatus 300 inquires of the management sever 200about the password corresponding to the input ID number and stores it tothe storage unit upon reception of a notice of the password from themanagement server 200 (step S103). Sequentially, the user inputs thepassword according to instructions displayed on the input screen in stepS104. The control unit determines whether the input password matches thepassword stored in the storage unit (step S105). When these twopasswords match, the control unit displays a message instructing a nextstep of the rental processing. Afterward, steps up to steps S109 shownin FIG. 5 are executed. In step S110, the rental information is recordedon the record tag of the commodity instead of recording the rentalinformation on the membership card.

Additionally, it is assumed that the user inputs a desired commoditynumber from the touch panel of the input unit 302 to select thecommodity. Accordingly, in this modification, “the input of a desiredcommodity number from the input unit” is executed instead of executing“the operation of the selection button of commodity” in step S106 ofFIG. 5 explained in the aforementioned embodiment.

Furthermore, similarly, in the commodity return step, in a case wherethe membership card is not used, the procedure is partially different.In a flowchart illustrating a commodity return procedure of FIG. 8, onlydifferent steps are explained. First of all, in step S202, the userinputs his/her ID number and password from the input unit 302 instead ofinserting the membership card into the card reading/writing unit. Inresponse to this, the control unit of the commodity rental apparatus 300inquires of the management server 200 about the password correspondingto the input ID number and receives a notice of the password from themanagement server 200. The control unit determines whether the inputpassword and the notified password match (step S203). When these twopasswords match, the control unit displays a message that instructs anext step of the rental processing. Next, the control unit reads therental information and identification number of the commodity returnedto the return unit 320 in step S204. Sequentially, in step S208, thecontrol unit determines whether the rental information sent from themanagement server 200 matches the rental information read from therecord tag of the commodity in step S204. Moreover, in step S211, thereturn information is recorded on the record tag of the commodityinstead of deleting the rental information of the membership card.

In addition, the card issuing unit and the card reading/writing unit arenot limited to the structure of the commodity rental apparatus 100 andthey may be added to the commodity rental apparatus 300. Modification 2aims at only the use of the commodity rental apparatus 300 as an examplein order to explain the operations of the commodity rental apparatususing no membership card and the commodity rental system.

The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodimentand modifications, and the application and modification are arbitrarilypossible. For example, the commodity rental apparatuses 100 and 300 arenot limited to the rental of commodities and they may be used to sellthe commodities. Moreover, through it was explained that the number ofcontaining units was one in the commodity rental apparatuses 100 and300, combinations of multiple containing units can be used. Furthermore,it was explained that the commodity rental apparatus 100 had 42commodity containing units and the commodity rental apparatus 300 had 30commodity containing units. However, the number of commodity containingunits, which the containing unit includes, is not limited to these andit is arbitrary.

The aforementioned embodiment explained the commodity rental system 1where the commodity rental apparatus 100 was connected to the managementserver 200. However, the commodity rental apparatus 100 can be used instand-alone form. In this case, the reader 119 of the containing unit110 of the commodity rental apparatus 100 and the reader 125 of thereturn unit 120 are replaced with a reader/writer, respectively.Moreover, the rental information may be recorded on the record tag (ICchip) of the commodity. This enables the user to return the rentcommodity even if any commodity rental apparatus 100 is used.

Though the aforementioned embodiment explained the case of renting onecommodity, the number of rentable commodities is arbitrary and nolimitation is imposed thereon. For example, in step S106, the useroperates multiple selection buttons corresponding to the commodity to berent. In response to this operation, the commodity rental apparatus 100may execute steps S107 to S108 by a predetermined number of times to beassociated with the number of selected commodities. However, the upperlimitation of rentable commodities (for example, balance of rental iswithin 5 for each user) is provided to make it possible to prevent therental of the commodities exceeding the upper limitation.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the control unit 103calculated the rental period based on the scheduled return date input instep S108. Here, when the rental date is the same as the scheduledreturn date input in step S108 on the rental information input screenshown in FIG. 7, a scheduled return time is further input and thecontrol unit 103 may calculate a rental hour from the rental time andthe scheduled return time, and execute “time rental” after calculating arental fee based on the rental hour to display in step S109.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the commodity rentalapparatus 100 executes the settlement processing according to the amountof money input by the user. However, this settlement processing mayinclude an account-receivable account and a deposit account. Forexample, when the amount of money input by the user is smaller than thedelay amount, the return of commodity is normally executed and thebalance is recorded on the membership card as an account-receivableaccount, and settlement including the balance may be executed at a nextusing time. Moreover, when the amount of money input by the user islarger than the rental fee, for example, the commodity rental apparatus100 may record the balance on the membership card as a deposit accountby the user's selection instead of performing the settlement processingon the spot and the user may appropriate the deposit account for thepayment of the rental fee at a next using time.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the user paid the rentalfee in cash and the commodity rental apparatus 100 had the settlementunit 140 dealing with this. However, the settlement method may be oneother than cash, and, for example, a method that uses the membershipcard having a prepaid function may be used. When the user inputs apredetermined amount of money to the settlement unit 140 at a membershipcard issuing time, the control unit 103 records a deposit amount on themembership card according to the input amount of money. At the usingtime, the rental fee may be deducted from the deposit amount. When theuser runs out of the deposit amount, he/she can newly set a depositamount by card update processing.

Though the containing state of the commodity in the containing unit 110explained in the aforementioned embodiment is arbitrary, a cover forabsorbing impact or preventing breakage may be used as required in orderto prevent breakage caused by impact added due to the drop of commodity.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the management server 200stored stock management information sent from each commodity rentalapparatus 100 in the rental database 203. The management server 200 maymanage a suitable total stock of each commodity rental apparatus 100based on the stock management information. For example, the managementserver 200 groups the stock management information of multiple commodityrental apparatuses existing in a predetermined area. The managementserver 200 calculates variations in stock within a predetermined periodof time based on the grouped stock management information and decidesprocurement of commodities from the outside of the necessary group (orsupply of commodities to the outside of the group) in order tocompensate for the calculated variations in stock. Moreover, themanagement server 200 calculates a suitable total stock for eachcommodity rental apparatus in the group and decides an amount ofmovement (supply) of commodity between the commodity rental apparatusesin order to realize the suitable total stock.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the containing unit 110 ofthe commodity rental apparatus included the column main body 111 drivenby the movable arm 116 connected to the motor and the bottom plate 112as illustrated in FIG. 3. However, the structure of the containing unit110 is not limited to the structure of FIG. 3. Any structure may bepossible if the structure can contain the commodities with apredetermined shape and deliver the commodities one by one.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15(a), it includes a bottom plate, acolumn, a push plate, and pulleys. The bottom plate is coupled to thepush plate and a front end, and sides on the bottom portion of thecolumn with movement of the push plate. The column contains apredetermined amount of commodities in a state that they are mountedthereon. One end of the push plate is rotatably coupled to the bottomplate and the other end is fixed to a peripheral portion of a pair ofthe pulleys. The pulleys are attached to be rotatable around a shaft anddriven by a motor (not shown).

The push plate whose other end is fixed to the pulleys moves right andleft as rotating with the rotation of the pulleys (in FIG. 15(a)) andthe bottom plate moves right and left with the movement. When the bottomplate moves left, the commodity of the lowest portion among the mountedcommodities is delivered to a drop slope from a cut portion formed onthe column.

Here, since the size of the commodity contained in the column is notconstant, an adjuster member, which corresponds to the size of thecontaining commodity, is attached to a column interior. Moreover, thepush plate and pulleys may be arranged at the rear end of the bottomplate as illustrated in FIG. 15(b).

The aforementioned embodiment explained that whether the rentalinformation of the membership card read in step S203 matches the rentalinformation, which was transmitted from the management server 200 instep S207 and corresponded to the identification number of the returnedcommodity, was determined in step S208, and that when these two rentalinformation items did not match, the rental processing ended. However,for example, when the user, who is a member, erroneously returns therental commodity of the other store, the returned commodity stays beingcontained in the return unit 120, resulting in inconvenience. Forexample, a reject mechanism and an operation button for starting thereject mechanism are provided at the return unit 120. When the usererroneously inserts the rental commodity of the other store into thereturn unit 120, the user may start the reject mechanism by theoperation button to pick up the inserted commodity.

Or, when the control unit 103 of the commodity rental apparatus 100reads the identification number of the commodity inserted into thereturn unit 120 in step S205 and cannot read the identification number,the reject mechanism may be operated to return the inserted commodity tothe user.

The aforementioned embodiment explained that the non-contact type ICchip using radio was employed as a record tag. However, any element maybe possible if it is radio communicable and information recordable, andfor example, an element, which is compatible with a short distance radiocommunication system such as Bluetooth and the like, may be used.Moreover, the shape of the record tag is arbitrary and can be selectedaccording to the commodity.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can beexecuted by those except the preferred embodiment expressed in thisexplanation that is not a restrictive purpose but an illustrativepurpose and that the present invention is restricted by only the claims.It is described in particular that the present invention can be executedsimilarly in equivalence of the specific embodiment discussed in thisexplanation.

Priority of the present invention is claimed based on the pendingJapanese Patent Application No. 2001-246920 filed on Aug. 16, 2001,entire content of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide acommodity rental apparatus and commodity rental system with easymanagement and high usability.

1. A commodity rental apparatus comprising: an input unit that selects acommodity to input rental information for renting the selectedcommodity; a containing unit that contains a commodity with a record tagon which identification information for identifying the commodity isrecorded in advance to deliver the commodity selected by the input unitafter executing reading/writing of predetermined information onto therecord tag; a return unit that accepts a commodity to be returned, andreads rental information recorded on the record tag of the commodity togenerate return information; and a control unit that is connected to theinput unit to control the containing unit and the return unit, whereinthe control unit reads identification information recorded on the recordtag based on rental information sent from the input unit, identifies thecommodity to be delivered from the containing unit, records rentalinformation on the record tag of the commodity, and records returninformation sent from the return unit on the record tag of the commoditywhen the commodity is accepted by the return unit.
 2. The commodityrental apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cardprocessing unit that executes reading/writing of predeterminedinformation onto a membership card, wherein the control unit isconnected to the card processing unit, records rental information on themembership card at the time of delivering the commodity from thecontaining unit, and updates rental information of the membership cardbased on return information sent from the return unit when the commodityis accepted by the return unit.
 3. A commodity rental apparatuscomprising: input means for selecting a predetermined commodity to inputrental information for renting the selected commodity; containing means,which includes a column containing a commodity with a record tag onwhich identification information for identifying the commodity isrecorded in advance and a first reader/writer section that is wirelesslycommunicable with the record tag, for identifying the commodity selectedby the input section based on identification information recorded on therecord tag to deliver the commodity from the column after writing rentalinformation of the commodity sent from the input means; return means,which includes a return hole through which a commodity to be returned isaccepted, a stocker that contains the commodity, and a secondreader/writer section that is wirelessly communicable with the recordtag of the commodity, for reading rental information recorded on therecord tag of the commodity to generate return information; andinformation management means, which is connected to the input means andthe return means, for recording rental information sent from the inputmeans to update the recorded rental information based on returninformation sent from the return means.
 4. The commodity rentalapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first reader/writer sectionand the second reader/writer section read information recorded on therecord tag via antennas respectively arranged in the vicinity of thecolumn and the return hole, and produce a radio wave for recordingpredetermined information on the record tag.
 5. The commodity rentalapparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: storage means forstoring stock information for each commodity; and stock management meansfor detecting a response radio wave from each record tag of thecommodities contained in the column using the first recorder/writersection to read identification information of the commodities to obtainthe number of stocks according to the kind of commodity to generatestock information, and store the stock information by the storage means.6. A commodity rental system comprising: a commodity rental apparatusthat rents a commodity; and a management server that is connected to thecommodity rental apparatus via a network, wherein the commodity rentalapparatus comprises return means, which includes a return hole throughwhich a commodity to be returned is accepted, a stocker that containsthe commodity, and a second reader/writer section that is wirelesslycommunicable with the record tag of the commodity, for reading rentalinformation recorded on the record tag of the commodity to generatereturn information, and containing means, which includes a columncontaining a commodity with a record tag on which identificationinformation for identifying the commodity is recorded in advance and afirst reader/writer section that is wirelessly communicable with therecord tag, for identifying the commodity selected by the input sectionbased on identification information recorded on the record tag todeliver the commodity from the column after writing rental informationof the commodity sent from the input means, the commodity rentalapparatus transmits identification information and rental information ofthe commodity to the management server when the commodity is deliveredby the containing means, the management server stores rental informationsent from the commodity rental apparatus to be associated withidentification information, the commodity rental apparatus sends themanagement server sends the management server a request for rentalinformation corresponding to the identification information of acommodity when the return means accepts the commodity, generates returninformation by the return means based on rental information sent fromthe management server in response to the request, and transmits thereturn information to the management server, and the management serverupdates rental information based on return information sent from thecommodity rental apparatus.
 7. The commodity rental system according toclaim 6, wherein the management server is communicable with a terminalvia the network, when receiving a commodity name indicating apredetermined commodity and rental information of the commodity, themanagement server generates a reservation number, stores rentalinformation to be associated with the reservation number, and transmitsthe reservation number to the terminal, and when the reservation numberis input by the input means, the commodity rental apparatus sends themanagement server a request for rental information corresponding to thereservation number, and selects the commodity to deliver by thecontaining means based on rental information sent from the managementserver in response to the request.
 8. The commodity rental systemaccording to claim 6, wherein the management server further comprises anadvertisement database that stores advertisement information of thecommodity, the commodity rental apparatus further comprises displaymeans for outputting advertisement information, and requestsadvertisement information of the commodity of the management server witha predetermined timing, the management server extracts the advertisementinformation of a predetermined commodity from the advertisement databasein response to the request and transmits it to the commodity rentalapparatus, and the commodity rental apparatus receives advertisementinformation sent from the management server and output it by the displaymeans.
 9. A commodity rental method comprising: the input step ofselecting a kind of a predetermined commodity with a record tag on whichidentification information for identifying the commodity is recorded inadvance to input rental information for renting the commoditycorresponding to the selected kind; the rental step of readingidentification information recorded on the record tag to select acommodity corresponding to the kind of the commodity selected in theinput step and record rental information of the commodity input in theinput step on the record tag of the selected commodity to deliver; therental information storage step of storing identification informationand rental information of the commodity; the return step of accepting acommodity to be returned to read identification information of thecommodity; the return information generation step of reading rentalinformation corresponding to identification information of the commodityread and returned in the return step to generate return informationbased on the rental information; and the update step of updating rentalinformation stored in the rental information storage step based on thereturn information.
 10. A computer program product that records acomputer program on a computer-readable storage medium, the computerprogram functioning as: means for detecting the kind of commodity andthe number of commodities with a record tag on which identificationinformation for identifying the commodity is recorded based on theidentification information; means for reading identification informationrecorded on the tag record based on rental information input by a userto select one commodity of a kind corresponding to rent information andrecord rental information on the record tag of the commodity; means forrecording rental information on a membership card; means for accepting acommodity to be returned to read rental information recorded on therecord tag of the commodity and generate return information based on therental information; and means for updating the rental information of themembership card based on the return information to record the returninformation on the record tag of the accepted commodity.